Potato-digger.



P. A. THMPSON.

POTATO BIGGER. l APPLIUATIoN FILED mum, luana.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 41.

P. A. THOMPSON. POTATO BIGGER.. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 1, 1909.'

Patented July 26,1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

vwanton P. A. THOMPSON.

POTAIO BIGGER. APLIoATIoN FILED JUNI: 1. 1909.

` K d 3140@ n lo L Pang/77,72 0773/?50/2/ 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Patented July 26, 1910.

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epeeication or Letters Patent. Patented' dltilly 26., lll.

Application tiled June 1, 1909. Serial No. 499,312.

To all lwhom imag concern.'

Be it known that l., PERRY A.-'lHoMrsoN, a citizen ot the United States or America, residing at Parma, in the county of litio Grande and Statev ol Colorado, have invented new and useful lmprovements in Potatolliggers, of which the following is a specification. 4

This invention relates to potato diggers, and one of the principal objects ol the invention is to provide an ecient machine for digging the potatoes, stripping the vines from the same', sorting the potatoes as to sine and loadin the potatoes into wagons or discharging t em into sacks.

Aanother object ot the invention is to provide a machine which will operateupon two rows of potatoes at the same time, carrying the potatoes up and stripping oil the vines and 4permitting the potatoes to drop on to sorting screens :trom which the otatoes are discharged on to a conveyor whica discharges them either into wagons or into saclrs supported at the' rear ol themachine.

Still another ohject ot the invention is to provide relialole and edlcient means lor raising and lowering the diggers and torcen trolling the operative mechanism ot the machine.

rlhese and other ohjects may he yattained by means of the construction illustrated i-n the accompanying drawings, in which,--

lligure l is a lon itudinal section on the line l-l of lffig. 2, ooking in the direction indicated by the arrows. tig. @is a top plan view of t e machine. Fig. 3 is a side elevation ol the complete machine. lig. l

is a plan view-ol the round wheels in which the clutches and clutc -operating mechanism lare shown.

\ Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a metal trame mounted on :trent and rear wheels 2 and intermediate drive wheels 3. A 'tongue or pole l is connected to the frame lor the-attachment ol draft animals, and supported upon said pole is a drivers seat 5. i.

Mounted upon'the axle 6 oil the wheels 3 upon opposite sides of the pole is a metal :trame 7, and formed on or connected to the iront end of each otjthese frames is a digger memloer* 8 comprising a series of lingers or tines 9 properly spaced apart and designed lor the purpose of passing under the krow ol potatoes and lilting the same and carry# ing it up to a point where it will he dieare taken u i, charged upon an elevator belt. There being two di ger members of identical construction a escription of one will serve lor both.

`Mounted to travel u on the rollers l0 jourloearin hars 1l is an naled at the ends o endless conveyor l2 provide with flights or partitions 12a, said convejver ada ted to take potatoes trom the digger mem ers 8 and convey them up and discharge them upon a heit 13 traveling over rollers ll journaled in the frame 7. 'llhe loelt i3 carries the potatoes haclrward, and the vines are grasped between the corrugated roller l5 and the two plain rollers le and stripped from the potatoes, the latter dropping through between the 1belt and rollers on to a sorter screen 179 said screen losing ol lares mesh so that the smaller potatoes will drop through upon another lscreen le. 'l`he potatoes are discharged trom the screens lli' into a spout 19 which discharges upon an endlessconvcper helt 20, while the smaller potatoes dropping upon the screen lli are discharged into a compartment dl, trom which the potatoes hy the conveyor and discharged. 'll e vines are carried hach: hy means ol a heit 943 mounted upon rollers 2t and discharged at the rear ol'" the machine.

"llhe conveyors 2U and 22 are mounted on upper `and lower rollera said lower roller being actuated lojv means ol a gear wheel @Il adapted to mesh with a similar gear 25 on a shaitt 26 journaled at the side ot the trame 7, said shalt 26 carrying a loevelpinion 27 meshing with a similar pinion 948 on the stub shalt` 29 journaled in the trame and provided with a gear wheel 30 on its outer end, said gear wheel meshing with a similar gear 3l vmounted on a shalt upon which a sproclret wheel is mounted. A drive chain 32 entends around said sprocket wheel and around the sprocket wheel on the shalt Upon the opposite side ol the machine a sproclret chain 33 passes over a sproeliet wheel on the shalt t5 and around a similar sprocket mounted upon a stuh' shalt 3l carw rying a gear' wheel 35 which meshes with a gear 36 on a shalt 37. rlhe shalt 37 carries a s rocket wheell near its inner end upon which a chain 38 is carried, said chain pass: ing overa sprocket wheel 39 on a stub shalt mounted in the traine. lEPor operating the rollers l5 and le a drive chain 40 passes arounda sproclret wheel on the shalt 37 and over a sprochetwheel on a `shalt al, said shalt hearing` on the roller it. Drive chains Mill lll@

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v link being connected at its lower end to a cranked portion 49 of a shaft 50 journaled in the frame 7o llhe lever 46 is provided with a rack 51, and when the driver moves the lever back toward the seat 5, the di ger members are raised from the ground. he opposite movement or the lever depresses the diggers.

A lever 52 pivoted to the frame 7 has connected to its lower' end a pair of links 53,

lsaid links being pivotally connected at 54 to the clutch-operating levers 55, said levers 55 being pivoted at 56 upon lugs 57 formed upon the axle 6 of the operating wheels 3.

rlhe clutch-operating levers have curved :forked ends 58 provided with studs 59 which engage the grooves 60 in the clutch members 61. rThe clutch members 61 carry sprocket wheels 62 around which the chains 32 and 33 pass. 0n the hubs of the wheels 3 the clutch members 64 are formed. rThus, by moving the lever 52 toward the rear, the clutch members 61 are withdrawn from the clutch members 64, and the machine is thrown out of operation.

Mounted u on the rear extension of the iframe 1 aret e sack holders l65 comprising uprights e6 connected to the spring-holding yrings 67. A. suitable discharge spout 68,

shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,A is designed to take the potatoes. from the conveyers 20, 22, and discharge them into bags or sacks held' by the springs 7.

The operation of the machine may be briey described as follows: As the machine is moved along the digger members 8 u root the potatoes and carry them, vines an roots, upon the conveyer 12 from which they are discharged upon the belt 13 and carried back to the rollers 15 and 1G which grasp the vines and strip them from the potatoes, the latter falling u on the screen 17 through which the smal er ones drop upon the screen 18. The otatoes from the screen 17 are discharged tirough the spout i9 upon/the conveyer 20, while the potatoes from the screen 18 `are deposited in a receptacle 21 and carried up upon the belt 22. These potatoes may be discharged either into a wagon or into the sacks held in place by the springs 67.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that the machine may be made to operate upon one row of potatoes or two, as shown, and that the conveyers 20 and 22 may be arranged to discharge lupon opposite sides of the machine, if so desired. The machine is comparatively simple in construction,considering the number and efficiency of the operations to be performed.

I claim 1. In a potato digger, the combination with a wheeled frame, digging forks and a potato conveyor; of a vine stripper including plain and corrugated rollers journaled in the frame, an auxiliary conveyer located between the stripper and irst-named conf veyer and serving to direct the vines to the stripper, a vine conveyer located below the stripper, a plain roller located adjacent the plain roller of the stripper and serving to direct the vines passing between the rollers or the stripper on to the vine conveyor, and connections between the conveyers and stripper and wheels of the frame for actuating the said conveyers and stripper.

2. lnl a potato digger, the combination with a wheeled main frame, digging forks, and a potato conveyer; of a frame pivoted to the main frame and supporting the said digging forks and potato conveyer, a vine stripper including a pair of rollers one of which is corrugated and the other plain and 'bearingone upon the other and journalcd in the plvoted frame, an auxiliary conveyer located between the stripper and. iirst-mcntioned conveyer and serving to direct the vines to the stripper, a vine conveyer located below the stripper and extending in advance of the latter, a plain roller located adjacent the plain roller oit' the stri per and serving to direct the vines passing 1between the rollers of the stripper on to the vine convcyer and connections between the conif'eyers and stripper and wheels or' the frame for actuating the said conveyers and stripper.

in testimony whereof ailir my signature in presence uit two witnesses.

PERRY A. THOMPSON. Vlitnesses z .FRANK E. Moonr, donn N. Kran., 

